Latirhinus was discovered in Northern Mexico in 2012 in Coahuila state, and was mentioned in the latest issue of Historic Biology: an International Journal of Paleontology by Albert Prieto-Márquez. When discovered, scientists knew it wa

Latirhinus Reconstructive Sketch

s a significant find for dinosaur history. The first way is that it shows how hadrosaurs were able to diversify to survive, in this case, grow large noses to smell predators. Another way is that it helps fill in a gap for Southern hadrosaur evolution. The next way is that it causes a link between hadrosaurs from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Finally, it allows scientists to know that hadrosaurs were by far the dominant lifeforms in at least North America.

Latirhinus is currently the most Southern-lived hadrosaur that we know of. Although little is known or found from this wide-nosed dinosaur, we can tell what it may have looked like from relatives like Gryposaurus'and Kritosaurus. As its name implies, it had a very large nose, making up nearly half of this dinosaur's head length. The extra large snout implies that it very likely had a very good sense of smell that would've helped find food, locate the herd, and know when predators like Albertosaurus were around. Another likely use for the la

rge nose was an inflatable bladder-like structure around the nostrils that could be inflated and help resonate sounds to communicate or show for display. What we do know about Latirhinus is that it only had four digits on its forelimbs, making it thumbless and unable to grab things. It would likely walk around on all four legs, but when needed, could stand up on its back legs and run away quickly. It also likely had a long tail, but that's not known for sure. Like other hadrosaurids, it had thousands of tightly-packed teeth that were perfectly designed for grinding down tough plant matter. Latirhinus' exact size is unknown, but basing on similiar hadrosaurs it was likely about 30 feet (9 meters) long and 3 tons in weight.